We check in with people at each stage of the cash transfer process to see how things are going. Take a look at some of their stories as they appear here in real-time.
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Enrollment

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Completed

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Months ago, I had a dream of setting up a welding business for my son who took a course on the same. It seemed just like a dream because it required a lot of money to buy the required equipment, but with the financial support I have been receiving monthly from Give Directly, I have made a lot of progress by buying one of the most expensive equipments needed.

Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?

My son wishes to have his own welding business which is the reason I have been saving for the past few months to buy a welding machine. Now that the machine has already been bought, all that remains are just a few more equipment which I will buy using the next transfers so that the business can kick-off.

Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.

Over the past few months, I have been under a lot of stress trying to figure out ways of raising enough money to buy a welding machine that would be used by my son to start a business of his own. This is because my son recently concluded his training on welding and would like to have his own spot because he is confident that he can do better on his own than if employed. I have been saving both the transfers I have been receiving from Give Directly and from my own hustles over the past few months and finally got to buy the machine. I am so much relieved and very grateful to GD because, without the transfers, this would not have been possible.

How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?

With the welding machine that I just bought, I hope that my son will have a business that will sustain him and that he will help me in providing for the family after the project is over. This will change my life as I will not have to bear all the family responsibilities as I do now being the family breadwinner.

16th Payment

Transfer Amount

2280 KES ($22 USD)

access_time 3 months ago

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How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?

My life is currently different from how it was for months go because I am able to school fee for my children easily, without to much struggle as compared to before. Since e I started receiving money my children has never been sent home for the arrears.

Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?

In the next six months, I expect to have started buying building materials in preparation for building my new spacious house. I hope I shall have saved enough money.

Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that l am always at ease when it comes to paying school fee for my children, because anytime i received the money i always give school fee first priority. I do not need to struggle so much as I used to do before, because I now have a support. I managed to buy a dairy cow and fortunately it has started producing milk. I sell some milk in community and some for my family consumption. Since the milk started getting me some income, my family has never gone to bed hungry. We are able to at least our daily needs. This was different then as we could go to bed hungry most of the times if we did not raise enough money to buy the food.

How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?

In the next six month i expect the cow will have given birth and I will able to get milk out of it for my consumption and also to sell it to the community and get money for my up keep.

12th Payment

Transfer Amount

2280 KES ($23 USD)

access_time 7 months ago

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How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?

My life is currently different from how it was four months because I own a motorcycle which I bought using my transfers. Formerly, I was employed to ride a motorcycle which brought us very little income. I am very grateful that through GiveDirectly I managed to buy my own motorcycle which has been earning more income since I enjoy all the profit. Other than using my motorcycle for a taxi business, I also use it to carry my children to school and lately they do get to school on time.

Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?

My additional goal is to buy a local dairy cow. This will enable me to get milk for household consumption and also for sales to earn some income. As a result, my living standard will improve from the increased my income.

Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.

The biggest difference in my daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer is building a pit latrine. I used to have bad latrine that exposed my children to many risks. I am now having a modern pit latrine which we can all use without fearing any risks.

How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?

in the next six months, I expect to have bought two dairy cows. My cows will be providing us with milk which I will sell and keep some for domestic use. This will increase my income and give me ease in paying school fee for my son who is in a private school. I will also save some money generated from the milk supply to enable me to buy a posho mill in future.

8th Payment

Transfer Amount

2280 KES ($23 USD)

access_time 11 months ago

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How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?

My children are studying in peace because I pay school fees in time, we have been eating well balanced diet because of this transfer and as a family we good clothes we bought with part of this transfer.

Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?

I would want to buy a sheep which is a family investment.

Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.

The biggest difference in my life since I started receiving this transfer is that my children have never been sent home for school fees like before when they would be sent home every term for the same.

How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?

I would want to ensure my children have all school requirements in time so as to maximize studying time.

Initial Payment

Transfer Amount

455 KES ($5 USD)

access_time over 1 year ago

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The recipient was not asked any questions as part of this follow up.

Enrolled

access_time over 1 year ago

What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?

The biggest hardship I have faced is inability to enrol my daughter into a college due to lack of school fee. She completed her secondary education in 2016 and has stayed home with no further education.

What is the happiest part of your day?

The happiest part of my day is in the evening because during most evenings I have achieved my target income from my taxi business and have a special meal to take to my family.

What are you planning to spend your transfer on?

I plan to spend my transfer to enroll my daughter in a college and pay her school fee.

What is the achievement you are proudest of?

The achievement I am proudest of is having constructed a brick walled house using money that I saved from my motorcycle taxi business. Initially I had a grass thatched house that use to leak during rainy seasons.